I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 230: Episode 3-2_Harbinger (2)

3.

The foundation of war is understanding the enemy’s strength.

"There is no particular movement. Many people are going in and out of Teheran Castle, and food supplies are being transported, but we have not confirmed any inflow or outflow of knights, soldiers, or weapons."

To adhere to that basic principle, the Allied Forces began to monitor Teheran Castle day and night. Despite the overwhelming difference in power, they were firmly resolved not to grow complacent. They had been burned several times already, so they would never underestimate an opponent just because they were small.

Nor were they trying to gauge the enemy’s strength simply because they feared defeat.

"Do not, under any circumstances, lose sight of that bitch who appears to be the princess or the movements of her knights. We cannot let them escape. Teheran Castle will be their grave."

"Yes, understood."

At the words of the Allied Forces’ commander, Grand Sword Master Kael, the man giving the report swallowed hard and stepped back. Even when Kael stood still, the red aura surging around him looked violent enough to tear everything nearby to shreds, and his blood-red eyes made it clear that no one wanted to provoke his temper.

"the princess..." Kael ground his teeth, savoring his rage toward the woman who was the root cause of all this and the thorn in his side.

If not for her—if she had died when the Empire fell—things would never have come to this. They could have neatly painted the Empire as a corrupt relic of the old era that had joined hands with the demons, opened a new Chapter in history, and he could have sat on that throne, bound the Allied Nations together, and forged a new Empire to rule the continent.

It had been an easy plan. Easy, but long in the making. And all that time had gone up in smoke because of a few short years—because of what one woman had done while she remained alive.

"This is the end."

There had been many things he needed to do, and he had invested a lot of troops to kill the princess, but he had never committed his full strength. He had believed that simply supporting the Temple with troops would be enough to finish the job.

Now, however, he would wait no longer. He would end this and quickly achieve his grand design.

He was certain of it. Teheran Castle was a natural fortress, a position with mountains at its back and a river before it, but scouts now encircled the entire mountain range, observing every last rat twenty-four hours a day. Unless they could teleport the entire castle in an instant, there was no way they could escape.

"What are the chances that the dragon uses Mass Teleport?"

Of course, the odds were not zero. The dragon was the decisive factor that had allowed the fallen Empire and the princess to disrupt the relationship between the Temple and the Allied Forces. It was because of the dragon’s existence that, even though the Allied Forces had already gathered enough troops to cover not only Teheran Castle but the entire surrounding mountain, they did not dare to advance recklessly. The dragon’s presence was immense, and there was already a precedent from the Holy War where it had fully displayed that overwhelming power.

The one and only variable. They were preparing for it. Conversely, that meant the Allied Forces were preparing for war with the intention of capturing even the dragon.

In response to Kael’s words, spoken into the empty air, a voice answered from the darkness. "Dragons do not lightly interfere in the affairs of the human realm."

It was a voice so seductive it made one’s mind grow hazy. A woman with black wings emerged, her sensual figure clad only in scraps of fabric covering her vital areas.

"But it already interfered in the Holy War, didn’t it?"

"That was because humans gave it a justification. A war in the Dragon Mountains? They would have had a better chance of survival if they had just gathered together and lit a bonfire."

She was beautiful, but not human. Her wings and the horns on her head proved that. A succubus. A race that could not be seen in the human realm. Resting her hand on Kael’s shoulder, the demon woman smiled seductively as she spoke.

"This time, it absolutely cannot interfere. If it could, the Allied Forces’ headquarters would have already been burned to ashes by a dragon’s breath."

"Hmm."

They were preparing for war on the assumption of that possibility. If they were certain, there would be no need to wait any longer.

"Besides, if the dragon joins the war, that would be the best news we could hope for. Then we would not have to wait either. The moment the dragon intervenes, the barrier will shatter."

Kael nodded at the succubus’s words. "We march in a week."

There would be no more failures. The dragon variable would not be a bad thing in any scenario. Thinking of all the blood he would spill, he drew his sword and began to hone its edge.

"Commander!" Just then, someone burst in. "We have a problem!"

Variables always exploded from unexpected places.

"Arhel has been seized by the princess!"

* * *

Kim Buja’s plan was simpler than it sounded.

"We just sneak out the elites, take Arhel, and hold out in Teheran Castle in the meantime, right?"

After all, that was what war on the continent always boiled down to: a fight to take what you wanted and hold it. The princess wanted the Empire, and the Allied Forces wanted the princess. At its core, the war was a matter of whether the princess would live or die before she could reclaim her throne.

Of course, even if they took Arhel, the Imperial capital, that didn’t necessarily mean the Allied Forces would admit defeat.

"If we retake the capital, a siege there might actually be better than one in Teheran," the princess’s words had become the key to his plan. "With this key that His Late Majesty the Emperor gave me, I can activate the capital’s defensive magic circle."

"Then why didn’t you use it when you were fighting the Allied Forces?"

"It’s a magic circle designed for a siege. Since the enemy had already entered the city without bloodshed due to internal strife, His Majesty must have thought it would be useless."

In any case, it was better to occupy the capital—the symbolic heart of the Empire—than to hold Teheran Castle. So they made their plan accordingly and racked their brains over the details.

"Should I just spend gold to move everyone? I’ll have to burn a ridiculous amount of gold to defend Teheran Castle anyway. It might actually be cheaper to just pour a bit more into the capital’s magic circle."

Even after he had earned eighteen million gold for free by emptying Lerbel’s lair, Kim Buja still calculated efficiency. He had no choice. Simply managing to seize the Imperial capital wouldn’t be the end of it.

That would only be the beginning. They would have to go beyond the Allied Forces and possibly even face the demons lurking behind them.

“Lerbel, the demons aren’t going to join the war, are they?”

“They cannot go that far. Just as dragons cannot take part in human wars.”

“Then what about a dragon quietly moving the people in Teheran Castle? Is that out of the question too?”

“If you want to bring the demons into the war, then it’s possible.”

From Lerbel’s perspective, she was just saying no in a roundabout way. But that wasn’t how it sounded to Kim Buja.

“So it is possible?”

Lerbel was dumbstruck.

“Then I’m counting on you.”

“Wait, how did you get that from what I said...”

It was a request that only a dragon could fulfill. If she had been a dragon who was simply enjoying her game, she would have refused without hesitation. But she had already broken the rules of her game for Buja several times, so she merely furrowed her brow and hesitated.

’Is this really okay? This doesn’t feel right...’

As she wavered, Buja asked her, “Why exactly is it not okay?”

“If a dragon intervenes, the boundary of balance will break, and the gate to the Demon Realm could open.”

She spoke seriously, but he just tilted his head. “You said there’s already a high chance the demons are backing the Allied Forces, didn’t you?”

Both Cassius and Lerbel had said as much, not as a guess but with near certainty. It was something he had always wondered about.

“Why is it that demons are always the ones breaking the rules, teaming up with humans, and milking everything dry, while dragons just sit there like idiots getting played? You only show up later—when the heroes have already turned the tide—to steal a bit of the credit.”

Lerbel fell silent.

He had no interest in hearing about the political situation on the continent or the rules that governed it. If there were rules like on Earth or in dungeons, and if breaking them resulted in penalties, he could understand. But in a situation like this, hiding behind rules instead of personal will was something he could not accept.

“So it is possible, right? If we lose like this, things go exactly the way the demons planned, and the continent could be thrown into danger. Isn’t stopping that supposed to be the dragons’ job?”

“...I will try.”

Faced with Buja’s unassailable logic—backed by the fact that he could always just return to Earth—Lerbel finally nodded. She had already opened her dragon lair to a human and helped him while she was supposed to be enjoying her game. What more trouble could there be? If there was going to be a problem, it would have happened already.

Thus, the simple plan was refined into something more convenient and efficient.

In the dead of night, a wide-area Mass Teleport spell went off without a sound. The magic cast by the dragon left no trace, no noise, and in an instant, Teheran Castle became an empty shell without a single soul left inside.

And the Imperial capital, Arhel, was seized in a heartbeat.

It wasn’t even difficult. The Allied Forces were in the middle of mustering their forces for war, and Arhel held only the Temple, some of the defeated Imperial citizens, and a small Allied garrison.

The Imperial capital fell into the princess’s hands, and the news spread like wildfire across the continent.

“The princess has reclaimed the Empire!”

“The Empire has been reborn!”

“Is this the second war between the Empire and the Allied Nations?”

“I hope the Empire wins this time.”

“The Empire has a dragon’s protection on its side.”

The Imperial citizens who had been living in hiding with their heads bowed began to gather in Arhel, one by one.

The Allied Forces, no longer waiting, turned their banners toward Arhel without a hint of panic.

A clear harbinger.

In an atmosphere so tense it felt like everything would explode at the slightest touch, the princess climbed the walls of Arhel.

* * *

Instead of a fluttering dress, the princess wore silver armor as she raised her sword and proclaimed, “On his deathbed, His Late Majesty, Emperor Bale Rayard, spoke to me.”

She was no longer the fragile woman Buja usually saw, but the true heir to the Emperor who had once ruled the continent.

“Though we may fall now, we are eternal. The day will come when we rise again and draw our swords, and when that day comes, the people of the Empire will gather. You have gathered once more for the Empire! You have drawn your swords once more for the Empire! And you have willingly staked your lives!”

It wasn’t only the knights. Ordinary commoners, farmers who had once tilled their fields, and shopkeepers with bellies hanging over their belts—everyone who had once been a citizen of the Empire had gathered.

For the final war.

Even with their meager weapons, they had come ready to lay down their lives to defend the Empire.

No, it wasn’t even for such a grand cause.

“You have gathered here to restore the fallen honor of the Empire for the sake of your families! You are here to defeat the enemy who made a pact with the foul demonkind to gain their unholy power!”

For those who had become slaves overnight, for those who had stepped forward to protect the families who trembled in fear day after day, the princess made her declaration without hesitation.

“In the name of Elinel Rayard, I swear that we will not lose! We will rebuild the Empire, annihilate our enemies, and reclaim the resplendent glory of old!”

This was war.

Behind her, the golden dragon let out a roar.

“ROOOOAAAR!”

And with that roar, the ground began to tremble.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

[You have cleared Chapter 3-2.]

[‘Chapter 3-3: Invasion’ has been activated.]